The Quest for a Pumpkin-y Pumpkin Syrup
The quest: make a pumpkin syrup that actually tastes like pumpkin. I love a good pumpkin spice latte, but most of the commercial ones are too sweet for my liking. So of course I had to DIY it!
Last year, I tried some of the recipes floating around out there on the internets, and while delicious, they weren't particularly pumpkiny. All of the spice, none of the PUMPKIN spice, ya know?! The problem with making pumpkin syrup is: you gotta dispose of all the gloppy pumpkin puree if you don't want that mess in your coffee or on your pancakes. Most recipes out there have you strain the puree out to get a more clear syrup. But I'm starting to think that maybe the gloppiness is a necessary evil if I want to keep the pumpkin flavor in my pumpkin syrup.
Anyway, let's get to it:
Basically, you make a simple syrup, add pumpkin puree and spices, let it simmer, then strain it. I already had on hand a jar of pumpkin pie spice that I mixed myself last year, so that made things easier.
My theoretical solution to the lack of pumpkin flavor was to add way more pumpkin puree than the recipes say. Might as well try to pack some big pumpkin punch since the puree just gets strained out anyway, right?
I added most of the can, knowing that despite my best intentions of getting creative with the leftover puree, I would just end up throwing it out.
After it cooled, it was time to strain.
The result: a small container of syrup. The taste? STILL NOT PUMPKINY ENOUGH FOR ME! I'm not even the hugest fan of pumpkin (for example: I don't care for pumpkin pie). To me, this syrup tastes like chai with a hint of pumpkin. Next time maybe I need to downplay the spices a bit and see if I can handle actual pumpkin glop in my coffee.
Last year, I had some super cute glassware in which to store my homemade syrups, but I tossed them somewhere along my recent quest for minimalism. If all my mason jars weren't designated as flower jars, that would've been a great way to store this!
I couldn't bring myself to throw away the spicy pumpkiny goop left over from straining, so I saved it and am calling it pumpkin butter. I have no idea if it's actually close to what pumpkin butter is supposed to be, but it has been delicious on waffles and such.
The end. And Happy Fall!
Last year, I tried some of the recipes floating around out there on the internets, and while delicious, they weren't particularly pumpkiny. All of the spice, none of the PUMPKIN spice, ya know?! The problem with making pumpkin syrup is: you gotta dispose of all the gloppy pumpkin puree if you don't want that mess in your coffee or on your pancakes. Most recipes out there have you strain the puree out to get a more clear syrup. But I'm starting to think that maybe the gloppiness is a necessary evil if I want to keep the pumpkin flavor in my pumpkin syrup.
Anyway, let's get to it:
Basically, you make a simple syrup, add pumpkin puree and spices, let it simmer, then strain it. I already had on hand a jar of pumpkin pie spice that I mixed myself last year, so that made things easier.
My theoretical solution to the lack of pumpkin flavor was to add way more pumpkin puree than the recipes say. Might as well try to pack some big pumpkin punch since the puree just gets strained out anyway, right?
I added most of the can, knowing that despite my best intentions of getting creative with the leftover puree, I would just end up throwing it out.
After it cooled, it was time to strain.
The result: a small container of syrup. The taste? STILL NOT PUMPKINY ENOUGH FOR ME! I'm not even the hugest fan of pumpkin (for example: I don't care for pumpkin pie). To me, this syrup tastes like chai with a hint of pumpkin. Next time maybe I need to downplay the spices a bit and see if I can handle actual pumpkin glop in my coffee.
Last year, I had some super cute glassware in which to store my homemade syrups, but I tossed them somewhere along my recent quest for minimalism. If all my mason jars weren't designated as flower jars, that would've been a great way to store this!
 |
| Into the fridge it goes! |
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| Actual PSL. Yehsss. |
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